An Ending Untitled
by DeuceKebabz
Summary: Max couldn't stop the storm from coming... How will she and Chloe deal with this? Warning: Extremely sensitive topics inside. [Pricfield Kinda] This story boarders on Rated T and Rated M, so be advised now. Post EP4 but Pre EP5


**An Ending Untitled**

I apologize for spelling/ grammar errors.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Life is Strange nor any of the characters or settings within.

 **Please Read Before Continuing:**

 **Trigger Warning! ** This story contains adult language, mentions and descriptions of self harm, some description of a graphic nature, emotional triggers.

 **Author's Note:**

This story is extremely sensitive! Please, be advised, that this story could be very shocking or overwhelming, depending on your nature and sensitivity. This story is on the very edge of Rated T and Rated M, so please keep that in mind.

This story has also has Chloe and Max's memories that are put in between the main story focus, so please read carefully as to not be confused.

This takes place prior to episode 5 and continues on right after episode 4 with an explanation as to how later on in the story.

I wrote this originally one night, I couldn't sleep and an idea occurred to me. I attempted to separate this story into a few chapters, but after editing and messing around with it, I found it better to read in one setting. This is a long story; the story itself contains over 7,000 words alone, not including the author's notes. I apologize, I know length can be annoying, but this is a better story to read all together, not chopped up in chapters.

Technically speaking, this is a Pricefield fiction, but not solely focused on romance. Those of you here looking for smut are in the wrong place.

Finally, because of the nature of this story: If anything in this story and/ or game effects you emotionally, I implore to visit  /talk/ or or call 1-800-273-8255. You are not alone!

 **If you skipped the information above, I ask you again to please read that before reading below this line. If you have, please enjoy the story.**

* * *

The wind picked up greatly, trees began to toss and turn so hard, they would crack and fall over, power lines were being blown right out of the ground, trucks and cars were being swept away by wind and water, buildings were falling, people were being thrown miles away, and the sky was growing darker by the second. The howling of the tornado blared, blasting into the eardrums of everyone around only suppressed by the screams and cries of horror and pain. The sound of metal blasting against wood, breaking the walls down of the houses once owned by a member of Arcadia Bay. This was it... this was the end and... there was no stopping the destruction.

Max was running around the main campus of Blackwell, exhausted and tired, desperately trying to find her friends before the wind took them away or threw something at them mid air. The screaming was unbearable in her ears, but even the haunting screeches couldn't block out the things she saw. If it wasn't the image of Jeremiah Blackwell's statue crashing to the ground, destroying the front steps of the school, or the windows blasting away followed by students slowly being sucked out by the tornado, it was the images of the closest people in her life disappearing to their death.

As Max reached out for the brick wall out front where the skaters always were, she looked behind her; Brooke and Stella were gripping branches of a tree with one arm, slowly slipping away, Courtney flew away headfirst into the roof of the school before tumbling around and being thrown miles behind it while Taylor caught a flag pole to the mouth, throwing her to the ground before being tossed away behind Courtney. The skaters we're trying to run from the wind creeping up on them until Trevor lost his skateboard as it flew, decapitating Justin mid run. Principle Wells had Ms. Grant by the arm, holding onto her for dear life before a bench ripped his arm off and tossed Ms. Grant to the wind with the Principle not far behind. Dana and Juliet we're hanging from a telephone pole, Dana gripping Juliet's hand tightly before the pole broke out of the earth and blew away with them hanging on. As the cars from the parking lot we're rising in the air, Max looked to her left and saw Victoria running to her, reaching out for her hand. Max reached as far as she could without letting go and as Victoria made a jump for it, a car smashed into her face knocking her back into the tornado just over the Blackwell Pools.

Max tried to pull herself up and crawl along the wall, using what strength she could find in herself after exerting her power, when there were tires screeching. She looked up and saw a old dump of a truck pull up right next to her and a hand gripped her arm, pulling her up with more force then she could imagine. Chloe pulled and dragged Max across her body as fast as she could while she got ready to hit the gas and drive away. Max could only crawl and paw at the seat, pulling until she could sit up in the seat. Being thrown back by the force of the speed, Max's head tossed back against the cushion as Chloe hit the gas and sped off towards home.

* * *

"Che, come here, I need to tell you something," Max said, smiling as she waved to her friend from across the backyard. As she waited for her friend, Max tugged on her ponytail awkwardly as she watched her blonde friend come closer.

"Hey, Max," Chloe said, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl, "You're face is all red, what's wrong?"

Max shuffled her feet around, "I... I'm sorry about... I'm sorry about your dad, Chloe."

Chloe's face dropped even farther down than before, burying her sadness for the moment as she struggled to fight the tears rising up. "Max, I know. I miss him, I can't even tell you how much."

"I miss him too, he was like my dad too."

"Mom's so upset... It's all my fault, I should have stopped him from going," Chloe wined holding tears back. She fixed her expression and looked at her best friend, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Max took in a deep breath and looked away, biting her lip and blushing deeply. "Chloe... mom and dad... they're moving to Seattle..."

Chloe looked perplexed. "Moving? To Seattle?... but... that means..." Chloe looked at Max who was avoiding her gaze. "Max? You're leaving?... You're leaving... me?"

"I don't want too," said Max reaching out for Chloe's wrists, "I don't want to leave, but they're making me."

"You can't leave me, Max," Chloe said, tears streaming down her face, "We're best friends, you can't just leave me!"

"Chloe, I don't want to leave you!"

"This sucks! This sucks so bad! Why? Why do you have to go?! First my dad, and now you?!" Chloe threw Max's hands away and turned away from her, sobbing into her hands.

Max stood there, silent at first, right hand holding onto her left arm, Chloe was crying hard and there was only one thing Max could think of to do; she went up and wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, squeezing her into a tight hug as she pressed her head against her back. Max began to cry as well listening to the heaving tears from her friend. After a moment, Chloe slowly turned herself around in Max's arms and hugged her friend back.

"I'll come back to you, Che, I swear I will."

"Don't forget me, Max. I love you."

"I love you too. I'm so sorry, Chloe."

There was a beeping sound coming from the front of the house. Max knew, feeling her heart sink in her chest, it was her parents ready to leave, but Max couldn't let go of her friend yet. She waited and held onto her friend, listening to her parents beep the horn twice more. Eventually, Chloe pulled away, looking down at Max before she reached up and wiped the tears away. Max smiled and blushed, pressing her hands to her face.

Chloe let go of her friend, smiling weakly behind her broken face, "You have to go. Your parents are waiting for you."

Max took a step closer, wrapped her arms around her friend and kissed Chloe on the cheek. Taken by surprise, Chloe felt a warm and wet kiss fill her face with heat and made her cry more. When Max pulled away, Chloe gazed at her and saw a soul as broken as she was staring back at her before Max walked away and through the house. The whole of the world never felt so empty to Chloe then that moment, watching another person she loved so dearly leave her.

* * *

Chloe was driving home, this was clear from the path she took. Max stared at the window to the devastation as Chloe did her best to drive around and avoid getting in an accident. The tornado was bigger then Max ever imagined and, what was worse, the tornado broke apart into two smaller ones, but just as powerful, surrounding Arcadia Bay. The path they took was random and painful.

Max suddenly saw the faces of her friends flash before her eyes and began to cry a painful cry, exploding from her, sinking her entire body down, face on her lap with her arms around her head. The pain pulsed through her, making every heart hurt, every breathe she took felt like a fiery blade shredding her skin apart slowly. Soon she blocked out the howling of the wind and the noises of destruction. There was a warm presence on her neck suddenly; Max peaked out through watery eyes and saw that Chloe had rested a hand on her neck, massaging her neck as comfort. The only thing Max could do was reach out for her hand and grip it tightly.

As the rain beat down harder on them, Chloe ceased her mad driving to a more careful speed, watching the destruction as she drove by. She drove past Rachel's home and the pain hit her like a bullet at the memory, only increasing the surprising shocking pain of her house practically exploding, wood and glass shattering everywhere as it got sucked into the wind. As Chloe drove away, she could see Rachel's house door fly at the neighbor's house with such force that it broke through the side of the home like a car would if it crashed through.

She looked over at Max, her hand still resting on the girls neck and Chloe began to sob as well. Her heart was pounding against nails, bleeding slowly knowing that this was the last few minutes of their lives. Out running the storm was pointless now that the weather was faster then a car could be and the roads were blocked from broken trees, cars and power lines pilled on top of each other. She considered going to the hospital, but it was already in ruins when Chloe went to get Max... Chloe couldn't bare the thought of having to tell Max that Kate didn't make it out of there. Rain rapped at the window, sounding like bullets going off as the view of Chloe's house came into sight.

* * *

"Are you even listening to me, Chloe?" Rachel asked, hitting a joint before passing it across the bed to Chloe. "Are you alright? Spacing out again?"

Chloe nodded, graciously took the joint away from Rachel and hit it deeply. "Fuck yeah, I was just... lost..."

Rachel snuggled up to her, wrapping her arms around the blue-haired girl, her head resting on Chloe's shoulder. "What were you thinking about?"

For some reasons, those words stunned Chloe into silence, losing herself in deep thought yet again. Chloe took another hit and passed the doobie back to her. "Nothing."

Rachel hit it and put it out in the ashtray on the floor. She looked at Chloe and smiled, "You were thinking about Max, weren't you?" Chloe didn't answer... she couldn't answer. The answer was always the same whenever Chloe spaced out, she always had Max on the brain even though she hated it. "Chloe?"

"She left me," Chloe said, anger filling her voice, "She left me... and I don't know if I'll ever see her again."

"You will, some how," Rachel said before giggling, "Though, I doubt she'll recognize you with the blue hair though."

"She didn't even bother to call me," said Chloe, standing up and leaning over her desk, "We were best friends, I fucking loved that girl and she loved me too... at least I thought she did..."

Rachel stood up and slowly walked over to her friend, "I love you too, ya know."

Chloe turned around and wrapped Rachel in her arms, "I know. And I love you."

"... Max will always have your heart, Che... No matter what, even I can't hold you like her memory does."

"Rachel-"

"I have to go, love," said Rachel before she reached in and kissed Chloe lightly on the lips, leaving a warm honey feel on the smooth, pink skin. "Max might come back to you someday... and you can't stay mad at her too long."

Rachel pulled away and began to get dressed. Chloe leaned against the desk and watched her throw on some clothes. "Where are you going?"

"I have that thing, that modeling thing I told you about," said Rachel through a shirt over her head, "Then I have to go meet someone."

"Will you come back?"

Rachel smiled and said, "Tomorrow, babe. Be good until then." Rachel flashed Chloe a smile before leaving the room. Chloe turned around and looked outside, watching Rachel take off that night, not knowing it would be the last time she'd ever see her.

* * *

Max pulled herself up right, wiping he face before more tears threaten to burst through, and looked out the windshield as Chloe pulled up to her house slowly. Chloe parked the car just a house down the street and squinted at her house through the rain. Max did too, reaching forward to wipe the perspiration from the window before the rain left a small gap in her view. After squinting hard, Max cupped her face with her hands to hold back a gasp, feeling her heart sink even lower in her chest scrapping her insides... and Chloe saw it too.

The passenger side door opened and as Max went to rush out, Chloe extended her arm across the brunette's chest, pushing her back into her seat before crashing through the driver side door. Hitting the rain, Chloe slammed the truck door and ran faster then Max had ever seen at the sight before them; the Price home was practically gone. Max scooted up and looked out: the only visible things left were David's man cave and the tile from the kitchen. The beds, the the tables, the chairs, the couch, the TV's were ripped apart and torn, thrown all over the ground surrounded by half-painted blue wood shattered all around, clothing and posters, broken plaster that had graffiti and chip marks tossed over where the living room used to be, and the tools from the garage lined the driveway in between the garage door pieces. The sight of broken childhood made Max want to rip her heart out of her chest, but what came after was the killer.

Chloe bolted to a specific pile of rubble and got on her knees, tossing wood and paper everywhere until there was a scream that erupted the noise of Arcadia; Chloe shouted, screamed, screeched, yelled and cussed as she pulled out of the rubble the fallen body of her mother. Wrapping her arms underneath Joyce's arms, Chloe yanked her body with force, kicking rubble out of the way as she did. There was blood dried up from dripping down her cheek and out of her mouth, her right arm was bent the wrong way and twisted behind her, her left foot was missing, and the rest of her cold body was torn, cut, and shredded by the wind, rain, and the rubble that fell down on her. Chloe cradled Joyce's body in her arms, swearing at the top of her lungs as tears poured off of her and flowed down on her mother's body.

* * *

The sound of flesh tearing both comforted her and scared her as Chloe ran a razor over her porcelain skin, watching the blood flow out and rip onto her jeans. The cold steel made her shiver until the red liquid soothed the chill as it flowed. Tears streamed down, dripping down and stinging the cut, causing sharp hissing through clenched teeth.

After a few minutes of this, repeating and repeating, Chloe cried hard, tossing the razor across the room. She kicked the floor before pulling her legs up close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees and lowering her head down on top of them, crying and heaving. In this moment, she didn't care about anything: how loud she was, how painful it was, how empty this felt... nothing. Chloe could feel blood dripping from her wrists down her arms and on to the floor, the sound of the dripping was drowned out by the sharp intakes of air in between the explosion of tears. The chill in the room grew colder, causing Chloe to shiver and squeeze harder, feeling her heart beat pound inside her chest.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Chloe looked up at her door instantly. Joyce... she forgot about Joyce, forgot that Joyce was even home. The ache in Chloe's chest increased out of panic. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Chloe didn't move; she was frozen, her brain trying to come up with an excuse or reason why she was sitting here bleeding out on her clothes and crying, but the truth was that Chloe was afraid of Joyce's reaction to this. Her girl, her only girl, desiring to bleed and feel the pain to know she was alive after everything that happened.

The knob turned and opened slowly, Chloe still frozen on the ground in front of her bed, holding her knees to prevent her heart from beating out of her chest. Joyce slid in, eyes on the ground, silent as she stepped forward to close the door behind her. Joyce stood there for a moment, not saying a word, not making eye contact which only increased the panic in Chloe. The room was silent echoing the noise of breathing from both of them.

Joyce took in a deep breath and looked over at her daughter, expression mixed with sadness and fear as she struggled to hold back the words she wanted to say or the tears that were trying to break free. Walking over and kneeling on the floor, Joyce sat on her legs and stared at Chloe for a moment, taking in the sight: her little girl with her blue hair a mess, her beautiful arm tattoo faded in the shadows, her white tank top now red, matching the spatter of red on those ripped blue jeans and white socks, all trying to protect Joyce from the real horror. The face of her daughter created the most powerful fear Joyce had ever felt. Gazing at her daughter, watching her stare back in panic, letting the tears flow down her cheeks from her red eyes, mouth hung open in shock as it tried to grab breathes of air desperately, her eyebrows scrunched together wondering what Joyce would do next. Joyce never thought she would ever see her daughter so broken, not even after William died or Max moved away, but all of that on top of Rachel leaving... must have been to much on her.

Leaning forward a bit, Joyce took off her white apron and scooted closer to Chloe, reaching for her wrists and wrapping the apron around her right wrist to stop the blood flow. She reached over Chloe's shoulder and ripped a corner of the blanket off to wrap around her daughter's left. Once they were wrapped and tied tight, Joyce held them in her grip and began to cry.

Chloe found her voice, shaking as she said the words. "M-mom- mom... I-I'm sorry. I'm so-sorry, I just... I couldn't... I-i just..."

"Chloe," Joyce said softly, looking at her daughter in the eye, "Baby, I'm sorry..." Chloe froze again, watching and listening to her mother, "I'm sorry I can't take away your pain for you, sweetheart... but doing this isn't going to help you, Chloe. You're bearing the scars on your heart already, dear, don't let them scar your body too."

Before Chloe could respond, Joyce pulled her into a deep embrace, rubbing Chloe's back as she did. This caused Chloe to break, bawling out tears into her mother's shoulder, squeezing her tightly as though Joyce would disappear any second...

* * *

Max struggled to get out of the truck and ran over, falling next to Chloe and wrapping both her and Joyce in her own arms. The pain was sharp, light a lightning strike hit them both, and Max could feel Chloe's heart bleed hard again. The rain was slapping their skin like thumb tacks. Chloe fell over, squeezing her mom tightly, gasping for air through raspy cussing. Max looked away, not being able to bare the sight any longer, and looked around the rubble at what was once the house she practically grew up in.

As the minutes passed, Max heard a small groan once Chloe fell silent, but the moan wasn't from the bluenette. Max looked over her shoulder and eyed the garbage all over, watching it with intensity as she searched for the moan again when a piece of wood slid and fell over. A shiver ran through her spine as she watched the smallest movement happen before getting up and walking over to it, leaving Chloe with Joyce.

The small pile where the wood fell, Max went over, knelt down and dug, moving pieces of wood around until a familiar face appeared to her; David laid there, eyes half closed and his breathing very slow as blood trickled out and down his lips. Max reached to place her hand on David's head, watching the ex-soldier shake and tremble. This wasn't planned, this wasn't even thought of, but Max could feel sorrow as she watched the man's life slowly fade away out of his eyes.

After a few minutes getting drenched and soaked in the rain, Max closed David's eyes and headed back over to Chloe. As Max approached, Chloe made a makeshift grave for Joyce out of a blanket near by and wood surrounding her mom's body. Max helped Chloe form what seemed to be a casket shape around Joyce. Once they were done, Max grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and guided her upright, feeling the girl tremble through the cold rain. They paid their silent respects, feeling a knife twist in their heart at every glance at Joyce, before Max grabbed Chloe's hand and guided her back to the truck slowly.

Once they got to the truck and sat inside, the sound of the rain was the only noise that pounded through their ears. Chloe sat there expressionless, eyes focused on the make-shift casket, breathing slowing down to barely any, and a light fog escaped her mouth every time as her warm breath hit the chill air. Max watched her friend, eyes struggling to stay focused, watching her soul slowly die away as she trembled in her own skin. There was nothing Max could do, even rewinding anything would be risky and could kill her. It was painful for Max sitting there watching Chloe die in front of her.

* * *

A bright light flashed causing Max to slowly open her eyes back up, facing the light as it stung her retinas. As the world slowly came into place, so did the pain Max was feeling. Her eyes focused on the ceiling above, lights shining down at her before she looked around and recognized were she was. The room was white, the only sound were the noises of machines monitoring her heart rate and blood pressure, the TV in the corner of the room shut off next to a sealed window and a chair. Max wanted to sit up and freak out, but a pain filled her body the more aware she became.

Reaching up to her mouth with shaking hands, Max felt a plastic tube sticking out of her mouth that, when Max touched it, caused a sharp pain down her body. Mentally making a map, the tube lead down into her stomach, hearing noises through the tube from her stomach. She began to cry, placing both hands around the tube attempting to pull it out of her when he door opened, causing Max to stop and stare.

Her parents came in and rushed over, standing there looking down at her. They were crying, her mom holding her left hand as she did, both of them gazing at Max like they almost lost her. The only expression Max could give was confusion in a demand for answers, but being unable to verbally say so... The frustration grew inside of her. Her parents talked to her, telling her why she was laying there in a hospital bed with a feeding tube, and as they talked the whole picture became perfectly clear to her again.

A year... a full year away from Arcadia Bay and Max never felt so alone. No matter how many times she begged, threw a fit, and demanded to go back, there wasn't an option at the time to do so. Every day, Max felt more empty then the last, missing Chloe desperately. After a few months away, depression sunk in unknown to her mom and dad, slowly eating away at every emotion Max had left to feel in her body, changing her from the inside out... Soon, even eating became a chore that Max refused to do, hoping she would starve quickly before her parents stopped her... Now, waking up in this room, Max knew she was wrong.

They kept her in the hospital for two weeks, one full week with a tube shoved down her throat to ensure food was ingested. The remaining time was spent in therapy, allowing Max to express her feelings aloud to someone who wasn't family. Soon enough, Max was back to eating normally, finding some comfort in the fact that maybe, just maybe, Chloe wasn't lost from her forever.

* * *

Chloe took the path back towards Blackwell instead of trying to swerve around different damage. Max looked over the fallen buildings and eyed the storm; it was just over the pay, seeming to hover as though it were waiting for them to give in. The torn down buildings and broken up roads lay like a blanket of despair covering Arcadia Bay form the chilling cold of the butterfly effect. As Max sat there, she could help, but blame herself for all of this including being unable to stop all of this from happening. She could do so much with her power, but she couldn't stop the storm, she couldn't stop the destruction, she couldn't stop the death... A strange feeling swelled inside of Max.

Reaching her hand out on Chloe's arm, Max gripped it and clutched her throat with the other hand, her breath ragged and choppy, almost mimicking a gag. Chloe looked at her once and knew instantly; she pulled the truck over and unlocked the doors allowing Max to bust the door open and vomit on the side of the road. It gushed out like a waterfall. Chloe reached over and pulled Max's hair back. Max was shaking worse then ever under Chloe's hand, the warmth from the blue-haired girl sent shivers down her spine as she spilled all her guts out. After a few minutes, Max wiped her lips and fell back in her seat, clutching her stomach tightly after she pulled the truck door closed. Chloe's hand moved to Max's shoulder and didn't let go until Max looked at her with a weak half-smile.

There was some resistance when Chloe let go and proceeded to drive off again, feeling the trembling of the girl next to her as Chloe held back her own sorrow at the events unfolding. After some time, they approached what remained of Blackwell Academy, the piles of rubble smeared with blood and broken trees. Chloe drove slower, taking in the sight for herself until she felt Max's and on her arm again, stopping immediately. She looked over to where Max was pointing. Without question, Chloe jumped out of the truck and ran around to the other side to help Max out as well before they ran over to a pile of brick, glass, and wood that covered up a moving figure crawling out from the underneath.

As soon as they approached, Max fell to her knees, splashing water on top of the rubble, reaching out towards the figure. Rolling over, Max gasped and pulled the boy closer to her, gazing down at his face, bruised and bloody. Warren looked up at Max through squinted eyes and managed a smile that trickled a small line of blood down his cheek. Chloe tapped Max on the shoulder and pointed to Warren's lower half, only for Max to see a dark red pool where Warren's legs used to be. Her heart sunk even further down. The only thing she could do, in her mind, was to hold Warren, hold him close to her to hold onto his soul for as long as she could.

* * *

"M-Max, wait," Warren slurred out, grabbing a hold of Max's hand to stop her from following Chloe inside the End of the World Party. "Listen... listen, I... I really, really... really like you, Max and... I can't wa- wait too... to go..."

Max laughed and held up her hand to stop him from continuing. "I know Warren. You're a good guy."

"But... but not, a... not a good like boyfriend or anything?" asked Warren, his smile fading away slowly.

"That's not it, Warren," Max said pressing her hand against on his chest, right above his heart, "I just... I love how we are, this weirdly wonderful friendship we have. You're such a good person, Warren... I just don't... I don't know."

Warren nodded slightly before looking at Max with a weak smile again, "I-I still love you, Max. You're... you're... an awesome fri-friend."

Max smiled and rubbed his cheek, "I love you too, Warren... I have to go. Be careful."

"I'll keep an eye... an eye out for Nathan."

"Good, thanks Warren!"

* * *

As Warren slipped away, Max cried, letting her tears mix with the rain the flowed down her body again. Chloe bent down and closed Warren's eyes before she helped Max lower his body back down on the rubble. The rain washed the blood from his stumps down in a river flowing past his arm and running down next to his cheeks as his head was lowered on a piece of wood. The moments past by... still Max couldn't move.

Chloe wiped her face, realizing that she, too, was crying harder then she believed she would at the sight of Warren laying there, realizing that he won't ever be making another science pun or flashing his dorky smile ever again. Standing up, she reached down to tap Max's shoulder, signaling that they shouldn't dwindle, but go on.

The humming of the truck pulled the sounds of the wind rushing around and the sounds of cars crashing into a twisted tune that lulled them into a day dream like state. Smoke was starting to fill the streets as the drove, filling a gray fog to blind their view around them slightly. At first, Max paid no attention to where they were going, focusing on the destruction passing her by, until about five minutes in, she looked over at Chloe and knew instantly; the lighthouse. Adjusting herself, Max looked to see if the lighthouse was still standing after all the chaos. From where they were, Max could see bits of the lighthouse missing, but overall it was still standing strong, a beacon in the faded bay.

Once they arrived, the minute they stepped out, Chloe and Max were hit with wind and rain emerging from the tornado on the bay creeping closer to Arcadia, ready for another attack. They gripped each others hands and struggled their way up the broken path to the lighthouse. Leaves and branches scratched their faces as they blew by, rain feeling more like bullets as it hitting their skin and soaking their feet. It was dark on the path, the remaining trees shading the way up to the lit area a top the hill, begging the girls to trip over a fallen branch or a misplaced rock on the way up.

* * *

"Max! Max, wake up! Max!" a voice shouted from above her, barely lit up from the light shining from a phone, "Max, please wake up! Please wake up!"

Max was groggy, rolling her head from side to side, trying to avoid opening her eyes. Two hands on her shoulders shook her slightly, knocking her eyes partially open, trying to focus on the dark world coming into place. Suddenly, all of Max's senses kicked in; it was cold and damp, her hands gripped the cool blades of grass and dirt, her stomach was doing flips threatening to push up stomach content until Max swallowed a gasp of air. Reaching up, blood was trickling down from her nose as she wiped it away, letting out a grunt of pain. After a few seconds, here eyes focused up at a face looking down at her shown by the light of a phone flashing her face.

"Max?... Max, are... are you alright? Max?" asked Chloe, panic rising in her voice to match the tears forming in her eyes.

Max sighed and grunted, hands gripping her head tight enough to dig her nails deep in her skull. "Fuuuuck! Fuck, Chloe... Chloe are you... are you really here?"

Chloe scrunched her nose and asked, "Of course I'm here, why wouldn't I be?" Before she could let Max answer, Chloe took a minute to watch her friend grab at her head, moaning in pain, before it sunk in. "You... you rewound didn't you?"

Max nodded as best as she could, "Yeah... I... I had too, you were... shot and... it was Jefferson... he... he shot you, god damn this hurts so bad!"

Chloe pulled Max up and into her arms, holding her close and tight, burying her face into Max's neck. They sat there for a few moments, letting Max get her bearings back so the pain would stop. Max wrapped her arms around Chloe and squeezed her close. "He had me in the dark room, Che... I couldn't do anything until my hand was free... and then I didn't know how far I could go..."

"But you did it anyway?" Chloe asked in a whisper next to Max's neck.

"I had to," Max said back, "I rewound and rewound from there, and rewound again so many times until I came back to here."

Chloe squeezed tighter, letting her tears fall onto Max's neck, "You could have killed yourself doing that, Max, then what would have been the point? I'd have been alone again."

"I had to get you back, Chloe," Max said before here eyes fell and she passed out, limp in Chloe's arms...

Max's vision came back to her fuzzy as she blinked and trying to take in her surroundings. The light was dim in her room, stinging her as she blinked frantically. Moaning, Max struggled to turn on her side when she felt something warm next to her. Feeling flooded back into her limbs, tingling pricks struck her every cell, as she slid her arm across the small gap of bed next to her. Max's hand connected with a smooth, warm arm close to her; she slid her hand upward and her eyes followed it. Chloe was there, laying there on her bed, staring at her intently. When her vision came back fully, Max was turned over on her side and observed her friend.

This was the first time Max had ever seen such sorrow and fear reflecting through Chloe. It felt strange to her, gazing at someone so strong willed who looked like a child again to her. She was trembling under Max's touch, eyes were flickering as she gazed back at Max, fighting to hold back tears that were on the verge of spilling. Chloe's lips were parted, breathing slowly through her mouth as though she were struggling for air.

"Che," Max said in a voice just above a whisper, "What's wrong, Che?"

Chloe flashed a weak smile, reached over and placed her hand on Max's cheek. "Are you alright?"

Max smiled and said, "You saved me, this time."

"No, you saved me, Max," Chloe said, letting the tears spill, "You're always saving me."

"I can't save you tomorrow, though," Max said, looking away from the two blue pools gazing back at her. "I didn't know what to do... I wanted to save you, Chloe."

"By saving me... you lost Arcadia Bay, Max," Chloe said, wiping Max's tears away with her thumb.

Max reached up and put her hand on Chloe's. "Even if I didn't save you, I'd still be facing a tornado tomorrow... by myself. I have to warn people here, they have to know."

"I'll go home to warn my mom and then come back for you," Chloe said to her.

Max let her hand slid up her friend's arm to her shoulder to pull Chloe back to her. "Please, don't leave me..."

"Max..." Chloe said, gazing at the sadness spilling from her friend.

"In the morning, please?" Max asked, crying as she did, "This is our last night... I want to spend it with you."

Chloe fell back on the bed, smiling and said, "You're to weak and I'm to tired to do anything, though. We'd just lay here."

At those words, Max scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, resting her head against her friend's chest. Chloe didn't know what to do, but wrap her arms around her small friend, squeezing her tightly against her. Max went quiet, listening to the beating of Chloe's heart beat slower the more relaxed she became, and melting into the warmth of the embrace. After a few minutes, Chloe tried to hold Max closer to her, clutching the girl as though she were about to fall off the face of the Earth. She ran her hand through Max's hair, lightly playing with her brown hair before massaging the back of her head.

"Max," Chloe whispered to the girl, "Are you awake, Max?"

"Mmhmm," Max said, snuggling her face against Chloe's chest.

Chloe smiled, resting her head next to Max's skull, nuzzling her hair, "I love you, Max... You've been everything to me these past few days... You've been the stranger I never had to hate," Max couldn't help, but giggle at that, "You've been my new friend and my best friend again... You've been like my sister... and, even though we never did anything, you've been like my partner, not just in crime... I didn't think I could care so much about someone since my dad died, even Joyce, but since you've come back... I knew what it felt like to matter again, to exist and to be loved... you're the best."

Against the warm chest, Max started to cry, feeling her heart burst and spill over, letting the warmth of Chloe's words fill her up. In an instant, it dawned on her what will happen tomorrow. She's going to lose Chloe again as well as all of her other friends, leaving her to face the storm alone. Chloe was going to die, no matter what she did, at the cost of her own life as well. After everything Chloe said, Max's heart pained knowing that this is the last time she's holding her friend this close, closer then anyone had since William.

Max squeezed a little harder, trying to stop the tears. She whispered against Chloe's chest, "I love you so much, Chloe... So much."

Soon after, Max fell asleep listening to Chloe's heartbeat like a lullaby.

* * *

Gripping each others hands, they reached the top of the hill and looked out across the water. The storm was already on the coast, destroying what was left of the town and moving closer to them. The sky was gray, swirling with leaves and junk that the tornado picked up, creating a cold blast of air hitting them from all sides. The water in the bay was being sucked up and thrown about, landing miles away, making the fact that it was raining non-existent. The sound of howling blasted their ears, applying harsh pressure, causing them to sway on their feet as they struggled to stand ground against the storm.

Chloe let go of Max's hand and moved behind her, putting her hands on Max's waist, pulling her downward. They knelt in the grass, trying to keep what balance they did have, eyeing the lighthouse in case it tipped over on them. Max was freezing until she felt the warmth of Chloe's arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her close tightly with Chloe's head resting in the crook of Max's neck. Neither of them could say any words that they could hear, being drowned out by the storm, but they could feel their hearts and breathing speed up, feeling the fear flood them, increasing the chill of the wind and rain to a numbing state.

The tornado was closer then ever. The lighthouse ripped apart, bit-by-bit being thrown into the water or up into the sky above the tornado until the entire foundation gave way, breaking away from the ground. This was it. Max clutched onto Chloe's arms, squeezing as tight as Chloe was squeezing her as the rush of wind swept over them, cutting between them as though it were trying to split the two girls apart. They hung on, Chloe hanging onto Max, Max's hands digging and gripping the ground as hard as she could.

There was a squishing sound after an abrupt clang and suddenly... Chloe's arms loosened. Max turned and squinted through the wind, trying to see Chloe one more time. A piece of wood lodged itself in between Chloe's eyes; blood spattered and dripped out, hitting Max and being thrown everywhere as her friend's body was slowly slipping from her grasp. Max could feel herself crying, but the tears were swept away like everything else.

* * *

"Out of the way, dork," a taller boy said, looking down at Max who was sitting on the ground outside.

Another boy was standing there, shorter then the other, but meaner looking. "Yeah, freckle-face, get up, this is our spot!"

"i... I didn't know..." Max said, stuttering. She grabbed her backpack and stood up, but was pushed forward and on to the ground, hitting her face against the grass.

"That's for moving to slow, dork," the meaner one said.

They stood over Max, hovering. Her face was already hurting from the fall, so she curled up on the ground and hugged her knees, waiting for them to do what they had to and leave her alone. They put their hands on her and just then, Max heard a voice from behind them.

"Get your hands off of her, you chickens," a girl said with a threatening tone.

The boys turned around and laughed. "What are you going to do? Tell on us, little girl?"

Max looked up in time to see the girl kick him in between the legs and then push him to the ground. The meaner boy took a few steps back before running away, shouting, 'I'm going to tell! I'm going to tell!' Eventually, the fallen boy ran off after him. Max uncurled herself and forced herself to not cry when the girl approached her.

The girl extended her hand out which, Max took gratefully, and helped her back on her feet. "Are you alright?" Max nodded, avoiding her gaze. "Did they hurt you? Does this happen a lot?"

"Yes," Max said nervously, her cheeks flushing red, still avoiding the girl's gaze. "Th-thank you..."

The girl smiled and replied, "Any time... Hey, you're the girl in my glass who draws a lot, right? I saw your picture of the ship you drew."

Max smiled weakly, "Yeah, I forgot about it. It's not that great."

"Are you kidding me? It was a pirate ship, right? I love pirates!"

"I love them too, I... I would love to be one. To sail the seas!"

"To see the world," said the girl with a wide grin. "I'm Chloe Price."

"Max Caulfield," Max said, extending her arm causally.

Chloe giggled and said, "So formal. It's nice to meet you, Max. Hey, maybe we can hang out some time? We can go draw together and talk about pirates and read cool books and stuff."

"Yeah, sure Chloe," Max replied.

Suddenly, Max was pulled into a hug by the taller girl. The hug was warm and tight, but short lived. "You seem really cool. Talk to you later, Max!"

Max waved as she watched Chloe walk away and a feeling of joy hit her heart... finally, finally Max had a friend in Arcadia.

* * *

Max made a decision... instead of letting Chloe go, Max let go. Her hands released and their body's were tossed up through the air, splitting them apart. Chloe's body flew off towards the sea as Max was tossed upwards. There was a small moment when Max had a flicker of happiness, a small moment of joy, knowing that this would be it. No more Jefferson hurting people, no more unstable Nathan, no more pain for Chloe, no more of anything negative... But at what cost? Was it too late to feel helpless, to feel useless in all of this? Max wasn't certain and suddenly, it didn't matter.

Coughing up blood, Max grabbed the metal shard sticking through her chest, holding on and coughing more. There was a huge amount of force behind her that pushed her out of the storm and into the air... The view of what Arcadia Bay had become was the last thing she saw before landed on her head in the forest...

* * *

 **Author's Note: This was a rough story, I know. Please tell me how you feel this story was to read? Good or bad? If you need to express personal feelings towards this story and are afraid to do it public, please visit my page and PM me privately if you'd like.**

 **I enjoyed writing this, even though it was dark and sad, but writing Chloe and Max is always a joy for me. I hope this was a good story for you, even if it was sad. Thank you for taking the time to read this!**


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